News: digital

Audiobook downloads rose 22% last year, PA stats show

Audiobook downloads rose 22% to a record £31m sales last year, according to new figures released by the Publishers Association to mark the start of... Read more

Investigation reveals illegal workers making Kindles in China

An investigation has reported that thousands of agency workers who make Amazon’s Echo smart speakers and Kindles in China have been hired and paid illegally.... Read more

PA: Brexit could help UK sidestep e-book VAT deadlock

The Publishers Association (PA) has expressed its disappointment in Brussels' inability to resolve a dispute with the Czech Republic preventing VAT on e-books from being reduced in the European Union.... Read more

Kobo hires Coveney as content lead

Nick Coveney, former digital innovation director at HarperCollins, is set to join Kobo as publisher relations and content lead for the UK, Australia and New... Read more

Kobo to launch 'smallest, lightest e-reader yet'

Digital reading company Rakuten Kobo is to release a new e-reader called Kobo Clara HD. Read more

Banker launches publishing start-up offering novelists £24k salary

A new company has launched offering aspiring novelists an alternative to the "traditional" routes to publication: a salary from £2,000 per month to write their... Read more

Publishers urge government on e-book VAT ahead of crunch EU meeting

Publishers are urging the UK government to support measures that would allow VAT to be removed on e-books, audiobooks and online newspaper and magazine subscriptions in the UK.... Read more

Bookchoice partners with HarperCollins

Bookchoice, a digital reading platform and membership service for book lovers, is partnering with HarperCollins Publishers Ltd to introduce a selection of the publishing house’s titles to its app and website’s... Read more

Bloomsbury partners with Spotify

Bloomsbury has agreed an "important" content partnership with Spotify, which will see the music streaming service exclusively offer titles from the publisher's 33 1/3 series to listeners.... Read more

Amazon US launches subscription service for children's books

Amazon US has launched its first subscription service for physical books - a service called Prime Book Box specialised in children's books.... Read more

Amazon’s £20k Kindle Storyteller Award returns

Amazon’s Kindle Storyteller Award will return for a second year. Read more

Amazon and Brexit fuel territoriality fears

The increased visibility of international editions on Amazon’s Global Store is fuelling fears that the retailer’s approach is incompatible with local rights-based publishing.... Read more

'Booming' audiobook sales double in five years

Audiobook sales have doubled in the last five years, according to data from the Nielsen UK Books & Consumers survey. Read more

Here’s to the innovators: welcome to the first FutureBook 40 list

The first ever FutureBook 40 list of UK book industry innovators, sponsored by Kortext, is here. Read more

W F Howes expands to meet 'rapid growth in audiobook demand'

Audiobook and large print publisher W F Howes Ltd has made a raft of senior appointments as it prepares to install new audiobook facilities at its... Read more